Category Archives: Veg

Tomato Rice

Tomato rice is a popular dish in the Southern part of India. Tomato rice could be very simple or filled with lot of ingredients and flavors. This colorful dish is easy to prepare and perfect for lunch or lunch boxes. One can use either leftover rice from previous night or make a fresh rice. In this recipe I have added some additional ingredients to make it more flavorful. You can adjust the spices according to your taste. Tomato rice goes very well with plain yogurt or raita.

Poi Leaves (Malabar Spinach) Pakora

Poi leaves are also called as Malabar Spinach or Basella Spinach and generally available in Indian grocery stores or Asian market. Poi leaves are glossy, broad, deep green and thick. The pakora/bhajji made from Poi leaves tastes awesome and goes very well as snack item with tea.  It can be prepared in both way either shallow fry or deep fry. In fact you can bake as well if you are worried about oil. However the best taste is in deep fried as always.

Amla( Gooseberry) Pickle

Amla has a lots of health benefits. Amla is a seasonal fruit similar to mango and others and generally available in winter season. The fresh Amla is easily available in India however couldn’t find the same in US. I used the frozen Amla available in Indian grocery stores for this pickle however if you can get fresh it would be more delicious. This pickle is not as cumbersome as other like mango or chilies. Amla pickle can be stored for 3-4 months in refrigerator.

Green Moong Daal Dosa (Pesarattu)

Green moong daal (Pesarattu) dosa  is a popular breakfast dish of Andhra Pradesh.  This recipe does not require overnight fermentation. Just soak the moong daal overnight, grind it and make a healthy dosa for breakfast. Adding Oats and Quinoa makes it more delicious and nutrient. Usually this dosa is served with rava upma and Allam Pachadi (ginger chutney). Goes well with tomato or coconut chutney and sambhar.

Amaranth (Ramdana) Oats Idli

Amaranth is also known as Rajgira or Ramdana grain. It’s a very tiny grain and has a sticky texture. Puffed Amaranth can also be used for breakfast cereal as well as chikki or ladoo. The grain called fasting grain, which is used during the fasting, is a low-fat grain and loaded with nutrition and dietary fiber. Amaranth oats idli is a very healthy breakfast dish. Adding zucchini, carrot and ginger makes it more delicious. The preparation is the same as normal idli and easy to make.

Zucchini Roll

Zucchini roll works out to be a light appetizer for you small parties or get togethers. You can prepare it either with or without crackers. This zucchini roll filling is made from wild rice, quinoa, tofu, soy mayonnaise (made at home) with achari flavor.  The crackers are made using wheat flour and flax seed which gives a crunchy taste to the rolls. It came out pretty nice and had a flavorful taste.

Soy Mayonnaise (Vegan)

Mayonnaise is generally available in any grocery store, but the downside is that it contains egg. This recipe allows vegans and vegetarians to enjoy mayonnaise without eggs. Surprisingly the taste is exactly that of egg mayonnaise and comes out really fresh. This recipe uses soy milk to truly make the recipe vegan friendly.

Fruity Kala Khatta (Chuski)

Kala Khatta is a tangy sweet syrup which is poured on the crushed ice to make a dish called Gola. It’s like a ice candy and enjoyed by licking it. It is also called Chuski. Kala khatta is made from Indian blackberry (Jamun) which is generally available in frozen form in Indian grocery stores. You can also use fresh Jamun if available. You can also make it more flavorful by adding additional fruits to it like watermelon and raw mango. This would give a refreshing feel to your taste buds.  Beat the heat this summer while indulging in this tangy refreshing taste.